Make It A Safe Labor Day Weekend For Manatees

Help Make It A Safe Labor Day Weekend For All, Including Manatees

For further information, contact:
Janice Nearing, Director of Public Relations
Phone: (407) 539-0990
E-mail: jnearing@savethemanatee.org

Note: A high resolution jpeg (300 dpi) of the Club’s yellow boating banner and waterway card is available upon request.

For Immediate Release: August 21, 2012

If boating is in the plans this long Labor Day weekend, Save the Manatee Club urges practicing “safety first” for the well-being of fellow boaters, endangered manatees, and other aquatic wildlife and natural resources. Collisions with boats continue to be the leading known cause of manatee injuries and deaths. “In the past five years, the number of watercraft-related deaths from January to July has remained relatively the same,” says Save the Manatee Club’s staff biologist, Courtney Edwards.

Cathie Bieber on board a boat with the Club yellow boating banner.

Capt. Arthur Eickenberg from Pasco County, Florida, displays the Club’s waterproof boating banner, designed to protect manatees. The waterproof banner reads, "Please Slow: Manatees Below," and can help warn other boaters when a manatee is spotted.

Since manatees must surface to breathe and they prefer shallow waters, the Club reminds boaters to observe all manatee speed zones and caution areas in manatee habitat to reduce the risk of boating collisions with these marine mammals, and to reduce the number of watercraft-related manatee injuries and deaths. Report manatee zone violations and manatee injuries to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) by calling their hotline number immediately at 1-888-404-3922.

Save the Manatee Club also encourages boaters to be proactive on the busy waterways by using the Club’s free yellow public awareness banners that state, “Please Slow: Manatees Below.” The banners alert other boaters to manatees in the area and can help to avoid potentially harmful situations. Ninety percent of Florida’s manatees bear scars from collisions with one or more motorized vessels.

Free shoreline property signs and weatherproof boat decals are also available from Save the Manatee Club. They encourage boaters to slow down and also feature the FWC hotline number for reporting injured manatees. Boaters can also request a “Boating Safety Packet” which contains the boat decal and a newly-designed waterproof card that was created in conjunction with the FWC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Click here to see a pdf of the card.) Laminated with a hole in the corner so it can be easily hung and kept on board any vessel, the waterway card features simple tips to protect manatees and contain multiple color photos depicting how to spot manatees in the water and how to obey posted speed zones, because a picture really can be worth a thousand words when trying to explain these important issues to the public. Information on the card is provided in English, French, Spanish, and German, so it is suited for Florida’s many visitors.

Save the Manatee Club's waterproof boat decal is available in the free Boating Safety Packet. To request a packet, send an email to education@savethemanatee.org.

“We encourage boaters and waterfront property owners to take advantage of our free manatee educational materials in order to reduce the number of watercraft-related manatee injuries and deaths,” says Edwards. Requests for the free banners, signs, decals, and Boater Safety Packets can be sent via e-mail to education@savethemanatee.org or by calling toll free at 1-800-432-JOIN (5646).

Those out on the water for the final big weekend of the 2012 summer boating season, remember that if you see an injured, dead, tagged or orphaned manatee, or a manatee who is being harassed, call the FWC hotline number at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922) or #FWC or *FWC on cellular phones, or use VHF Channel 16 on marine radios.

Earlier this year, Save the Manatee Club launched live manatee webcams at Blue Spring State Park, making it possible to watch manatees in real time during the winter months. Throughout other months of the year, the public can watch recorded video of manatees and live scenes of Florida wildlife and habitat within the spring run and adjacent St. Johns River. Watch at manatv.org.

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